


The name on the tip of his tongue

by JisatsuKatsudon



Series: Sneering Acorn [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Harry Potter Has a Twin, Seer Harry Potter, Seer Luna Lovegood, Wrong Boy-Who-Lived (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:06:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28792161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JisatsuKatsudon/pseuds/JisatsuKatsudon
Summary: Harrison Sirius Potter had always been quite the special little boy. It wasn’t the killing-curse green eyes or the dreamy and somehow still malicious smile he wore. No, it was the words he used for the things he saw. Things that nobody else saw. Things that stayed hidden save for very special little boys and girls, like Harry was one.In which Harry Potter has a brother who is hated by the magic and the wild. The two are the same, they act the same and they are treated the same, but only one of them hears and sees the wild without pain.Or basically, it's my take on a story with fae and it's really not at all like the fairy tales they're from. Whoopsy I guess?Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling and if you see any name you know, it's probably not my character.
Series: Sneering Acorn [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2111436
Comments: 4
Kudos: 41





	The name on the tip of his tongue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, this is my first fanfiction, I don't have a beta and English is not my first language so please bear with me. Also this one shot is constructed in a way that will probably not allow you to understand everything, so you can interpret a lot hahah. Have fun and please don't be mean, even if you don't like it.  
> Toodles ~Kats

Harrison Sirius Potter had always been quite the special little boy. It wasn’t the killing-curse green eyes or the dreamy and somehow still malicious smile he wore. No, it was the words he used and didn't use for the things he saw. Things that nobody else saw. Things that stayed hidden save for very special little boys and girls, like Harry was one. 

If you asked Lily or James Potter or even their faithful friends Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, nothing in Harry’s childhood would make him different than his slightly younger twin brother Alexander Remus Potter. The two of them grew up the same, looking the same, acting the same, being treated the same. The adults were quite proud of that too, because they knew that in a different universe, with parents with a different strength of character, one of them would be mistreated. Neglected. Treated differently, just because he hadn’t earned the title of the boy-who-lived. The boy who survived the killing curse, that faithful night when Voldemort decided to end himself by ignoring the markings of a blood ritual that Lily had performed earlier that day. 

Harry, well, Harry was not the boy-who-lived. 

It had never mattered however, luckily. No, what made him special wasn’t that he was the one to be in the line of the killing curse when the blood ritual made it rebound. A sacrifice. One life for another. Lily hadn’t known that, despite being the smartest witch of her age, she still was a muggle-born after all. She hadn’t realized what blood magic meant. Hadn’t realized just why it was forbidden. A sacrifice. A life for another. No, what made Harry different wasn’t that somebody gave his life for him, but that said somebody’s name was always at the tip of his tongue. 

They had been three once. Not just Harrison and Alexander, but Harrison, Alexander and Nicholas. Three boys who looked the same and acted the same and were destined to be treated the same. Until they weren’t. Until Mother Magic claimed one of the green-eyed babies’ life. Until Nicholas became the boy-who-hadn’t-survived. The boy-who-died. The boy, who had to give his life for a ritual that wasn’t his. 

Nobody knew that there had been three and those few that were excepted from the term ‘nobody’ would rather bite their tongue off than admit that they knew what happened with the blood ritual. None of the people that weren’t named Lily had known that she was about to save the world for another ten years at least. But at what cost? 

Harry and Alex acted so similarly that it was eerie to everyone who wasn’t privy to the moments where they let it shine through that they weren’t the same person. It never happened when others were around and so, only the twins knew for sure that they could have different opinions and that they didn’t share all of their mannerisms and thoughts. 

They moved at the same time, always in tandem. When Harry sat down, Alex stood up at the same time to get another breakfast pancake. When Alex reached out to grab a book, Harry tilted his head to see the deer he had spotted from out of his window a bit clearer. They didn’t need to see each other, it happened without them consiously doing so, as if they were connected by an invisible string that prompted all of their actions. They spoke so often at the same time, that they developped a system of silently blinking at each other, in ways that only they understood. 

Emotions also came at the same time. Both of them had an even temper and seldomly showed that they were overly excited, sad or angry. But when they did, they did so at the same time. It creeped their parents and godparents out when one started to cry, while the other broke out into a smile. Sirius often called it their ‘buttons’ and claimed that a ghost pushed them at the same time. The others laughed about it, because ghosts weren’t invisible after all. They knew death better than the muggles and while it was still a concept that scared most of the wizards and witches, the four adults of the Potter manor had found their peace with it, ever since Nicholas’ involuntary sacrifice. 

“Alex? Are you asleep?”, little Harrison asked his six-year old brother, even while he knew that the other couldn’t be asleep when he himself wasn’t. It had just always been like that and Harry had never questioned the shifts and glances that automatically happened when one of them spoke. Even now, Alex had turned at the same time that Harry had drawn a breath to speak the words he knew to be unnecessary. His brother didn’t answer, just blinked at him with eyes that shined even greener under the full moon. The lady in the moon loved their eyes and Harry never grew tired of telling Alex how her giggles sounded. And Alex never grew tired of hearing it. 

“The woods are calling me”, Harry whispered at the same time that Alex blinked. Silence fell over the small room like a blanket that only the older of the two could feel physically. They blinked simultaneously, Harry’s blink impatient and Alex’ resigned. They moved to sit up and without another word spoken, both of them slipped on their shoes and left the house, ignoring the cold of the winter that filtered through their thin pyjamas and left them cold. Alex shivered despite himself, while Harry didn’t, the older boy simply taking step after step. Step and step and step. Step and step and....Harry stopped. 

“Here?”, Aelx asked, while Harry turned to his brother with a small smile on his face. He answered by inclining his head ever so slightly, the two of them both facing the small tree in the clearing at the same time. The twins moved to get closer to the small acorn. The younger boy once again blinked in his resigned, slow way when only Harry was allowed to enter the clearing, Alex being stopped by the cold embrace of hostile magic. 

He sighed and Harry smiled, the string pulling at their minds. 

Music drifted through the forest, the voice Harry’s, but too high to be the boy’s at the same time. It was searing and the trees danced and Aled had to close his eyes and press his hands to his ears, because it burned and hurt, the same way as always. He was an intruder and he knew it and Harry knew it and the forest knew it and yet, he was still there every full moon, as if magic would change it’s mind and let him into the secret world that was Harry’s and only Harry’s. 

Green eyes blinked and Harry’s tongue burned with the name that wanted to flee and the music of the wild. Only one of them escaped, because Harry knew only one of them and while the boy stared at the acorn that seemed fully grown to him, he missed the form of a transparent person with wings and horns as big as their head. 

The boy reached out to touch a branch as long as his whole body and the bark cut him, not deep, but deep enough for it to bleed. A drop of the red liquid reached the roots and the tree that was fully grown in this world, but not in the other, absorbed it. It smiled and his smile was full of sharp teeth, but Harry wasn’t afraid. He smiled back and somewhere, worlds away behind magic that was far too hostile for this tranquil moment, Alex sobbed in pain. 

Finally, the moon was disappearing and so was the smile, the only thing the wild showed him that night and Harry left, taking the hand of his brother and pulling him away from the baby acorn. “Like a phoenix”, he explained in a voice that was too distant for Alex’ liking and the younger boy nodded, as if he had understood what Harry was talking about. 

When the sun was touching their faces, the two boys were asleep, dreaming of teeth, acidic drinks and smiles with the patience of the trees. One of them had a cold and was clearly in pain, while the other slept with the angels painted on his face. 

It was the last night Alex tried to join the wild. 

It was their eight birthday, when someone else was finally let into some of the secrets of the Potter twins. The four adults that coordinated their lives around the public eye, had decided that they didn’t have to be as isolated as they had been the last eight years, as most of the death-eaters were either locked away or too focused on their image to try anything. So they decided, that it was time for their sons, because Sirius and Remus saw themselves as part of the concept ‘parents’ too, thank you very much, to meet other children their age. 

Alex and Harry soon seperated, as they knew that seeing them move together, would probably scare any potential friends away. They could each find a friend and then introduce them to each other and the other twin, making for a perfect little group of friends. Or so Alex thought. The older twin however, didn’t want to make any friends and wandered off, joining the woods. He sat next to a tree, braiding the hair of a flower fairy, a hissing, spitting and rather rude creature with magnificent hair and the superior air of a magical creature. 

The fairies loved the boy, for his eyes that showed that he belonged to them, for his patience that made him similar to the trees and for the name on the tip of his tongue. It was unknown to Harry, why magic and her creature hated Alex, since the two were the same. 

“You can braid well”, said a dreamy voice out of nowhere and Harry looked up to a person with the beauty of the wild, hair like the moon and the eyes of a person who saw as much as he did. “Thanks”, he answered, tilting his head as a reaction to Alex speaking to someone, making his smile more malicious than it normally looked. The girl stayed perfectly calm and sat, mirroring the boy’s smile. “You’re touched by the wild”, she stated and he blinked and reached out to touch her hand and with the touch, the fairy screamed and the trees sang. 

Eyes like acid and snow watched the two from the dark of the forgotten light. 

They had been gone forever, the birthday party having finished and everyone having gone home, except for the family living in the house between the worlds and the father of the other child having disappeared. “Are you sure that you can’t feel your brother?”, Lily asked Alex with a huff, tucking a hair of red, wet hair behind her ear. It had started to rain. The dark-haired child shook his head. 

Most people couldn’t lie with their bodies, not at the age of eight, but both twins could lie with their entire being. It was, as if lies ran through their veins instead of blood. Impassive lies, passionate lies, active lies, accidental lies. They built on each other and kept one of the twins comfortably warm and the other one as cold as the dead woods surrounding them. 

Alex could hear the searing song of the wild and he saw all the leaves drop from the trees, when the forest adapted to having too many wild creatures in it’s heart. Alex saw the birds dance, until they dropped to the ground, dead or exhausted....he really couldn’t tell. Alex heard the trees roar with tired anger. Alex felt the presence of two wrong beings in a clearing so near that it was almost visible, but worlds away and ever so invisible to everyone. But most importantly, Alex felt the hatred of magic and the warning that shook his bones. He would not tell anyone that he could feel his brother and his companion, not far away, yet unreachable. 

The boy turned away from the forest and fled into the house. 

“Mom, who’s Nicholas?”, Alex asked one day during the summer, in which the twins would turn eleven. The red-haired woman turned to one of her sons, the one that somehow scared her less. Both of them scared her, even if the men called it ridiculous and superstitious. But Lily felt things that no pureblood or creature could have ever felt, for her fear was born from the fairy tales of the muggles. She gifted her son a smile that she liked to think was authentic, but seemed painful to him. “Where did you hear that name?”, she asked, her vibrant green eyes that seemed dull in comparison with hor sons’ eyes, seemingly looking through Alex. “I read it...in a book”, he answered casually, not about to tell his mother that Harry mentioned the name, every night at midnight. ‘Nicholas. Nicholas. Nicholas. Alex, the wild took him, we have to save him. Nicholas.’

“Oh, I know which Nicholas you’re talking about. And she proceeded to tell the story about the man cheating death with a stone made of magic. Her words sounded wrong and Alex could feel that they were as foul as the wild that lived in his brother and his brother’s best friend, the daughter of the moon who belonged to the twins ever since they had disappeared that day when they were eight. The two had emerged unruffled and as fine as the sunlight that started as soon as they left the woods, holding each others hands and burning Alex with their presence. Ever since, the wrong feeling around Luna had disappeared and Alex liked the fair child almost as much as his brother. 

It was the day that Alex told Harry that the lies that flowed through them had been built by Lily. 

“Curious...very curious”, was all the bitter man said, when he sold Alex’ wand to the boy. Harry grinned at him, ignoring the bitter taste on his tongue, put their by the angry, crazy man who pretended to be calm in the presence of his clients. Harry’s grin was full of teeth and acid and his eyes blinked in the rhythm of the magic, pulsing through all the wands in the shop. He could feel them and he could feel the lie that Ollivander was about to make up and he anitcipated the thrill of knowing more than his parents yet again. The man told the lie and the twins tilted their heads simultaneously, watching as the fake smile dimmed on the wild man’s face. Neither of them were scared, for Harry had just found one of his own and Alex was too used to them being everywhere at this point. 

Their parents pulled them out of the shop and Ollivander was glad. 

The forest cried in the night, before the twins were bound to leave for Hogwarts and so did the moon. Alex could smell the music and taste the hostility. Harry could smell the trees and taste the love of the wild. The creatures wept and the plants sobbed and Alex giggled, while clear tears ran down the older boy’s face. “I’ll miss Nicholas”, he stated, for the name had been known to him for years now and it was on the tip of his tongue, as always. Neither of the boys knew of the horned and winged creature, but both of them could feel his presence like a lie in the air. “I won’t”, Alex answered tonelessly. 

“You’re just jealous”, Harry whispered through the window, leaving frost on it, despite the summer temperature outside. “Jealous of the wild”, he added and looked at Alex with big green eyes, that looked so perfectly similar to his brother’s. They were a shade off however, a shade that couldn’t be seen by creatures, muggles or wizards. A shade that they could only feel. And the wild hated Alex for it. “You’re jealous, because I was chosen as the loved one, after Nicholas gifted his life to the wild to save yours.” Neither of the boy knew what Harry’s words meant, but both could taste the hatred of magic towards the words. Magic had always loved Nicholas the most afyer all. 

“Just tell me the story about the moon’s giggles”, Alex answered, his voice emotioneless and his eyes flat. 

Their train to Hogwarts departed on the day it also departed in every other universe, even if the wild only existed in theirs. The twins were in the same compartement, of course they were, having been joined by Neville and Susan, Alex’ best friends. “I’m sad that the moon chose her daughter’s first day on earth a year too late”, Harry murmured, before humming a simple, short tune. Alex wasn’t sad, for as much as he loved her, he knew that Luna belonged to the other world, as did Harry. The jealousy burned him indeed and he swallowed the bitter lump in his throat to smile and talk with his friends. 

Harry watched his brother, for once not moving at the same time, his smile as draeamy and malicious as always. Nobody except for Alex ever saw the malice. They both could feel the ghost between them. It was that moment that Alexander decided, that he really didn’t want Harrison to be in the same house as him. 

Somewhere far away, an acorn tree sneered.


End file.
